Methane Ice Dunes Found On Pluto

Methane ice dunes found on Pluto

The findings come after images from NASA’s New Horizon mission have been analysed from travelling the system for nearly a decade. As well as having a diameter of only 2,377km and surface temperatures of -230C; Pluto’s atmosphere was thought to be too thin for the formation of features similar to those found in deserts on earth. The dunes formed next to a major mountain range of water ice 5km high where wind is generated as air flows downhill. It can get as high as 10m/s which is enough to carry the tiny particles. Scientists can’t see everything from the images but they were able to discern the dunes are 0.4-1km apart and the methane crystals 200-300 micrometers in diameter (roughly a grain of sand).

The grains of methane (and maybe nitrogen) are thought to be produced through a process known as sublimation. This is where a solid transitions directly to a gas skipping the liquid phase. This essentially transports it into the atmosphere where the tiny crystals form then the Pluto’s winds move them around the dwarf planet.